Christmas Miracle
by CaptainRogersGirl0829
Summary: Ever since joining the Avengers, Christmas has always been more exciting for Steve. However, this Christmas will be even more adventuring when his daughter decides to join him.


Doesn't anyone understand that pregnant people need peace and quiet? So they can relax. Was it so much to ask for? Apparently it was since Steve was forced out of Pepper's and Natasha's penthouse because they were getting to rowdy. And by they, he means Tony, Wilson, Bucky and Natasha. Pepper was actually trying to 00calm the others down, but unfortunately it was too much for Steve that got up and left without a word.

This day already started bad. When Steve woke up, everything ached. His back, ankles, and hips were all he felt. It took a while before he actually felt comfortable enough to stand without having to sit down, surrendering to the pain. This pregnancy was really taking its toll on him and his body. Some days he found himself wondering if this was worth it and some days he found himself elated and excited to become a father. Bucky is obviously thrilled about it all the time, but that's because he doesn't have to suffer. And what made his situation worse was that Steve was a week _late! _The baby wasn't born on it's due date or before. It's due date was on Thursday, December 18th. Today is Wednesday December 24th, Christmas Eve and six days after the baby should've been there.

It annoyed Steve immensely that he had to spend overtime pregnant which wasn't fair to him. Clint, whom had his baby last month, was two weeks early and here he was. 9 months pregnant and a week late. He envied Clint, but was actually glad Clint was early or else he wouldn't have fallen in love with the baby girl that was brought into this world. Mina Odinson. She was the most precious thing in the world and, despite whatever mood Steve was in, she was the highlight of his day. She always made him smile.

And now was no exception.

Steve couldn't help, but smile when a soft, giggle emits from the common room. He had originally thought that no one was there and was hoping to get some peace and quiet so he can relax, but when hearing the laugh it made him glad that he wouldn't be alone. He didn't know where Clint, Thor and Mina had escaped to after breakfast, but he was happy that he'd be alone with them. At least they were quiet and mature. They had to be, they were parents.

When Steve steps into the room, his hands roaming over his large belly, he's met with Clint and Thor sitting on the floor with Mina between them. Thor was currently pressed against the one month's belly and blowing raspberries which results in Mina letting out a high, pitched squeal of delight. This causes Steve to laugh in return which gets the attention of all them. Mina removes her gaze from her father and looks up at her uncle with a small smile. Steve smiles back at her before walking, more like waddling, over to the couch.

By the time he lowers himself onto it, Mina had demanded to be picked up by Clint. When Clint scoops her up, Mina reaches a tiny arm out towards Steve and Steve didn't hesitate. He pluck her out of Clint's arm and cradled her to his chest.

Mina loved to be held by Steve. It doesn't matter what he's doing, she'll demand to be held by him and wont take no for an answer. One time, they were all gathered in the common room- Steve holding her, of course- when he had to go to the bathroom. Without her permission, Steve handed her off to Bruce and left the room. It took Mina a minute to realize that Steve wasn't holding her anymore and when she did, she let out an ear piercing wail that let everyone in the room know that she wasn't happy with the change in arms. And she continued to sob, and scream until Steve had returned and grabbed her. She was silenced almost immediately.

Steve smiled warmly down at her, "Good morning darling, how are you today?" Mina answers with a giggle, her hand coming to rest on Steve's cheek. He chuckles, "Someone's in a good mood."

"Yeah now because she has her uncle Steve with her, life is good." Clint says sarcastically as he plops down beside the two on the couch.

Thor stands from his spot, "It seems like our little princess has grown some sort of crush on you."

"She loves you too and you know it. You're both just jealous that she likes me better."

"Jealous? Me?" Thor asks, quirking an eyebrow up playfully. "Never."

"She only likes you because she knows you're carrying her younger cousin." Clint rebuts. And as if to prove his point, little Mina's hand drops from Steve's cheek and onto his belly. She suddenly grows fascinated by Steve's enlarged torso and her eyes widen as drool begins to leak out the corner of her mouth. Her other hand finds refugee on his baby bump.

Steve only shakes his head. "Yeah, you and Uncle Bucky seem to both like touching my belly. Well don't get use to it because if this kid doesn't come out soon, I won't let anyone touch me until it does." Mina completely ignores and continues to feel him through his t-shirt.

"Where's Bucky?" Thor asks, sitting on the armrest of the couch.

"Upstairs with Tony, Rhodey, Natasha, Bruce and Pepper. They were being too obnoxious and loud, I was already irritated enough." Steve mutters glumly.

Thor stares at him pitifully, "I have a feeling that you're sudden annoyance is much more than just Tony, Rhodey and Natasha being obnoxious."

Steve looks down, avoiding eye contact. But anyone watching could see the fear and uncertainty pass through Steve's eyes. Luckily Mina picks this as the perfect time to start falling asleep in Steve's arms. Clint looks up at Thor, silently communicating, and inclines his head slightly towards their daughter. Thor nods and softly takes Mina away from Steve, "It is time that this princess has her well-deserved beauty sleep. Say goodbye to Uncle Steve Mina."

"Bye Mina." Steve waves goodbye as Thor walks away with his daughter asleep in his arms.

When Thor leaves, Clint decides to be frank and not beat around the bush. "What's up? Is something wrong with the baby?" Clint asks, concern evident in his tone.

Steve sighs and shakes his head, "I don't know." Clint only quirks an eyebrow. Steve sighs and begins to elaborate, "If something wasn't wrong, wouldn't the baby have come earlier or the day it's due." Steve looks down and runs his hand over his belly. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"No, of course not Steve." Clint objects, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Then why am I still pregnant? Why is my baby not here yet? I must be doing something wrong."

"Well you're not." Clint intercepts before Steve could continue to wallow in his self-pity. "All babies are different and they all come out when they're ready. Just because you're late doesn't mean something's wrong."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows in thought, staying silent for a few minutes. Clint waited patiently for him to speak with he's ready. And he does, five minutes later. "Clint… when you went into labor with Mina, what was your first thought? When you're water broke?"

Clint sighed and leaned back against the couch, his mind returning back a month before. Thor and him had been together on the common room floor; Thor was in the kitchen with Pepper as she attempted to teach him how to cook while Clint was in the living room watching TV. He thought nothing of the pains that suddenly plagued him that morning. He thought they were cramps or Braxton Hicks contraction which Bruce had warned him of earlier. It wasn't until the pains worsened and he felt a growing warmness in his pants had he grown concerned. His water broke not even three minutes later and he had to admit, he was frightened.

Because of this, he voiced his fear to Steve. "When my water broke, I was scared." Steve tensed, expecting worse. "But… that was only because I was worried that she wouldn't be safe since I was early. Bruce had reassured me that one you hit 36 weeks, it's completely safe for the baby to be born without complications. At 36 weeks, the baby fully develops their lungs. I was 37." Steve opened his mouth to says something, ask another question, but is forced to close it when nothing comes out. He sits there, staring at the floor, trying to figure out how to phrase on his sentence. Finally to save Steve from his miserable attempt at respond, Clint shakes his head. "Just spit it out, whatever you have to say. I'm sure what you're thinking now, I probably thought about when I was pregnant with Mina."

Steve shakes his head, "I'm not thinking about the baby… for the most part."

"What are you thinking about?" Clint persists.

"Just… about…" Steve huffs irritably. He looks up at the ceiling hoping the words will come to him. He doesn't know how to phrase his next question. Finally fed up with this, he spits it out, "I'm thinking about the birth. I'm scared." He finally admits.

A look of sympathy crosses Clint's features, before understanding dawns on him. He pats Steve's back softly, "Steve we've all been there. Believe me, I was worried sick about a human being coming out of me."

"How did you cope with it?" Steve asks desperately. "Because I don't think I can do it."

"I didn't." Clint confesses. "But I had Thor, Bruce and Pepper in the same room with me. They helped me through it. Granted, the pain will be horrible- childbirth isn't easy- but I guarantee that once your baby will be in your arms, it'll be all worth it. Besides you'll have Bucky, Bruce and whomever you choose to be in the room with you. You'll be fine and so will the baby."

"But what if I'm not? What if I fail?" Steve asks, his voice a mere whisper, as he holds in tears.

Clint shakes his head, "You wont, I promise. Besides all parents are supposed to screw up, that's how we learn to be better. It's bound to happen."

Steve peers curiously up at Clint, "Have you done it yet?"

Clint smirks, "Believe it or not yes. I dropped Mina was she was only 3 weeks old." Steve couldn't help, but gasp. "But she was okay, we were near the bed so she fell safely on the bed." He assured, and watched as Steve sighed in relief. "Do you feel better?" He asked. Telling Steve that he dropped Mina was supposed to relief some of the stress the pregnant man was feeling.

Steve nodded, "Yeah, a little."

"Good, don't worry Steve. Everything will be fine." With a final pat on Steve's shoulder, Clint stands and goes to join Thor and Mina, leaving Steve alone to his thoughts. Before leaving though, he turns back to Steve, "By the way, Merry Christmas Eve."

Steve nodded back in reply.

.

**The Next Morning (Christmas Morning)**

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"Up, up, up Avengers! It's Christmas. Time to open gifts!" Tony's loud voice blasted through the speakers throughout the Avengers tower startling half his teammates awake. "Report to the common room immediately. If you're not here in five minutes, I'm sending someone to come get you… By the way Merry Christmas."

Steve groaned unhappily, frowning as he tossed the pillow on top of his face away. "Are you kidding me?" He grumbled to himself as he sat up in bed.

He heard someone chuckle from his left. "Cheer up Steve, as Tony pointed out, It's Christmas! Don't be grumpy." Bucky said before sitting up in bed and turning to face his grumpy boyfriend.

Steve sneers at him, "Yeah you try being 9 months pregnant with a child that should've been due last week on Christmas!" With that, Steve tossed the covers off of him exposing his large, rounded belly. He throws his legs off the bed and, ignoring Bucky's help, pushes himself up. But almost instantly, he has to lower himself back on the bed when an irritating cramping begins in his lower region. He couldn't help, but let out a low growl. Bucky grows concerned.

He's at Steve's side in less than a second. "What's wrong?" He asks, his hand finding occupation on Steve's lower back and gently massaging.

Steve lets out a sigh of relief. "Nothing… just cramping." He replies, his voice a little strained.

"What can I do?" Bucky asks softly, his other hand grabbing onto Steve's.

Steve shakes his head, "Keep doing that." He said referring to the massaging. Two minutes go by before Steve feels like he can get up without his legs buckling under him. With an arm wrapped around Steve's torso, the two men make their way out of the room and into the common.

.

.

Steve and Bucky are the last to enter and find the Avengers have made themselves comfortable in their pajamas. With a growl sent Tony's way, Steve plops down between Natasha and Bruce on the couch leaving no space for Bucky to sit next to him. Bucky took refuge on the floor next to Sam and Thor.

"Okay guys, the time has come to reveal who you're secret santa is." Tony says excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat. "I'll go first!" He says before anyone else has a chance to say anything. "I got Ms. Natalia." Tony sing songs as he reaches behind the tree to pull out a medium sized box.

"Oh God." Natasha groaned, shaking her head. If she had gotten Stark there could be anything in that box, ranging from lingeries to handcuffs.

"Please, you'll love my gift." He says tossing her the present from across the room.

Natasha caught it before it hit Steve in the face. "I doubt it." She muttered, but nonetheless, begin to tear open the wrapping paper. "I didn't know you could wrap Stark." She commented as she got to her present.

Tony shrugged, "I cant, so I asked Pepper to do it."

"Figures." Natasha mutters as she tosses aside the paper and reveals a box. After taking the lid off, she allowed herself a small smile. "Aw, thanks Stark. I'm actually surprised." She pulled out a leotard- an appropriate one-, ballet slippers, and a card membership to the ballet studio down the street.

"I remember you once said that you used to dance and you'd always gaze at that studio down the street as we past it."

"Thanks Tony, I love it." Natasha said sincerely.

Tony smirked, "Wait, that's not all. Look inside the box."

Natasha did and sighed exasperated as she pulled out a red lingerie with patching panties and lacy bra. But that's not all. Also Tony was so thoughtful enough to get her a box of tampons as well. "I knew it was too good to be true." She muttered as everyone laughed.

"You're welcome Pepper." Tony stage whispers to her. Pepper only shakes her head and smiles.

"Oh laugh all you want," Natasha snaps before turning and retrieving her secret santa present. "I got Pepper." She says as a way to change the subject. And so on the secret santa went.

Natasha got Pepper a Keurig.

Pepper got Clint movie tickets and a two person dinner to one of the most fanciest, and expensive, restaurant there is.

It was around this time that Steve begin feeling pain in his lower region, worse than the ones from this morning. He silently began breathing, hoping to not catch the attention of anyone. But unfortunately, the one person he had to sit next to noticed, Natasha. She turned look at him and raised an eyebrow, silently asking him if he was alright. Steve forced the grimace that wanted to come forth back and nodded reassuringly at her. Although Natasha wasn't convinced, she didn't say anything because of Mina giggled happily as Clint passed her off to Bruce so he could get the gift he bought Mina.

Clint got Mina a boat load of toys and clothes.

Mina, with the help of Clint and Thor, got Bruce a hand custom made shirt with both the baby and Bruce on the front, taken from a picture that they took together the day she was born. Also a new stethoscope and lab coat.

Bruce got Coulson an exact replica of Steve's shield, but without the Vibranium. (Coulson's reaction certainly made Steve uncomfortable)

The pains were getting worse. Steve couldn't withhold the quiet moan that escaped him and Natasha's head snapped towards him. "_I'm fine."_ Steve mouths to her at her questioning gaze, but the way his body tenses and stomach contracted, she knows he's not. She opens her mouth to say something to alert the others, but Sam's happy shout stops her.

Coulson surprised Sam with a blind date. He gave him a picture of a beautiful blonde women with an amazing body who he was to meet that night. Rhodey couldn't get rid of the large grin that spread across his face. Tony pouted because he wanted a girl too.

Sam got Bucky Marvin Gay's 1972 Troublemaker soundtrack. "Everything you missed, all jammed into one album." He told Bucky.

Natasha glanced back at Steve and saw that he wasn't in pain anymore and decided to drop it until she knew for sure. Just in case, she got off the couch and walked over to Bruce, to whisper in his ear. "I think Steve is in labor, but he's not going to say anything until he has to." Bruce discreetly glanced at Steve and saw the Captain's body tense again as another pain hits. He nods his head.

He whispers back, "We'll just have to wait till he's ready to say something or his water breaks. Everything downstairs is ready for him, we just have to get him there." Natasha nods and sits back down beside Steve, just a little closer in case she has to react fast.

Bucky got Thor a year's worth supply of poptart to which he dug into immediately.

Thor got Fury a new array of guns with a knife sharpener.

Fury got Maria a pack of coronas, and a laptop. He said the laptop was to be used strictly for work, but that was before he winked at her afterwards. Maria laughed.

When Maria turned to give Steve his present, she now saw what Natasha and Bruce had seen earlier. He was obviously in pain. Sweat had become to gather along his forehead and he was silently panting. "Steve are you okay?" She asked him, gathering the attention of everyone in the room. Even baby Mina.

Thankfully, at least for Steve, it was that exact moment the pain stopped. As soon as everyone's eyes landed on him, he straightened in his seat and plastered a smile onto his slightly pale face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Now gimme that." He says to drop the subject.

Maria got Steve two new sketch pads, paints, and any other painting materials an artist would need.

Even Steve's response the presents were strained as he tried to contain a groan that wanted to come out. "Th- thank you Maria. I needed new supplies anyway. I love it."

Maria nodded uncertainly and looked up at Bruce and Natasha who shrugged in reply when Steve turned around to grab his secret santa present.

"I got Tony." He said as he tossed Tony the small box.

"It better be good Rogers." Tony replies jokingly.

Steve shrugged, "I don't know, I think you might like it. You and Bruce would. I found it when I was rummaging through your dad's things in the basement."

Tony unceremoniously ripped open the gift and lo and behold what he found in front of him. Dr. Abraham Erskine's long lost notes dealing with the super soldier serum.

It was at this moment that the pain Steve had been feeling decided to spike causing Steve to tense again and latch onto the first thing he could find. Natasha's hand. He held fast and tight, trying to breathe through the contraction silently. But again, because Steve didn't say anything, Natasha didn't. But soon she would.

When the pain was over, Steve took a deep breath, sent Natasha an apologetic smile and turned to Tony who was staring flabbergasted at the papers in front of him. "It's not all of it, but it's more then what any other scientist get. I'm sure with you and Bruce together, you'll both be able to figure it out."

"Wow… Steve I-"

"You're welcome." Steve interrupted and couldn't help, but let out a low moan.

Everyone's head snapped up to meet Steve's body begin to curl inward, his hands placed flat against his stomach. "Steve?" Bucky calls worriedly.

"I'm fine." He stresses, breathing deeply as he grabs back onto Natasha's hand.

"No you're not, you're going into labor." Natasha says calmly before standing and kneeling in front of him. "Steve we have to get you down to the medical center."

"No I'm not in-" Steve's screams cuts off his own argument. His scream seems to break Bucky out of his small trance. Bucky's at Steve's side in less than a minute.

"Come on let's go."

Steve sees no point in arguing as the pain overpowers him. He whimpers softly and nods his head letting Bucky and Thor pick his body off the couch.

As they enter the elevator, Steve turns to Bucky and smiles weakly up at him. "I guess you're Christmas present came right on time." He says jokingly.

Bucky laughs and shakes his head, "Only you Steve would make a join when you're about to give birth."

Steve laughs for a second before the pain demands his attention again.

.

.

Bucky's and Steve's daughter, Sarah Rogers, was born three hours later surrounded by her parents, Bruce and her godparents- Natasha and Pepper.

"She's so beautiful." Bucky spoke cooing softly at their baby girl who lays sleeping peacefully in his arms.

"She is." Pepper agrees. "You did amazing Steve." Steve only had the energy to give Pepper a weak smile.

"I'm so proud of you." Bucky said before planting a kiss on Steve's forehead.

Natasha walked back into the room after going to collect the others, "Hey guys, it's time for Sarah to meet the rest of her crazy family."

The others came barreling into the hospital room not even a minute later and all eyes turned to the pink bundle in Bucky's arms. Natasha takes Sarah from Bucky. "Guys I'd like to introduce our daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Rogers."

"Sarah? After Steven's mother?" Thor asks curiously as he peers down into the pink bundle.

"Yeah, I picked the name. Right Stevie?" But it was at that moment that Bucky turned and realized that Steve had fallen asleep. He was curled on his side, sleeping soundly. "The birth took a toll on him."

"Why don't we leave so Steve could rest peacefully?" Bruce suggested.

Everyone nodded and without another word left the room. Bucky and Sarah were one of the last ones out. Bucky glanced back at Steve, "Hey Sarah, sweetheart please give us a break? This is our first time as parents and I apologize in advance if we screw up. But know that what we do from now till the day we die, is your own good, alright. Daddy and I love you so much." Bucky kisses Sarah's forehead before closing the door behind them.


End file.
